on Tuesday 12 November, 2019 at 7.30 pm
at Καφενειο « H Μουριά » Charilaou Trikoupi 87, Athens.

In the spirit of La Bohème and following the tradition of Kafeneio talks, A Conversation with Athens is an intend to organize a new series of meetings gathering voices of the local art scene in Athens.

The conversations are held in English and host by Florent Frizet & Eric Stephany, two french artists currently living in Athens.

Iordanis Kerenedis and Piergiorgo Pepe : Kerenidis Pepe collection
The activities of the Kerenidis Pepe collection started in 2007 in Paris, by Iordanis Kerenidis (CNRS research director in quantum computing) and Piergiorgio Pepe (ethics professional and lecturer at SciencesPo). The collection supports art that enables new ways of seeing, acquiring agency, and producing social affect; an art that uses language to challenge normative divisions, such as “visible / invisible”, giving priority to partial perspectives and multidimensionality.

The collection focuses the long-term support and acquisitions of artworks by I. Aballí, A. Barón, E; Barto, A. Cesarco, D. G. Cramer, Detanico & Lain, J. Discrit, H. Epaminonda, A. Froment, D. García, M. García Torres, D. Horvitz, F. Jung, S. Kallinikou, C. Koumianaki, J. Lempert, C. Morel, J. Nédélec, B. Ortiz, C. Panayiotou, N. Papaconstantinou, E. Ramírez, V. Santoro, A. Schlesinger, P. Vlassopoulou, E. Werth. Works from the collection have been shown at Reina Sofia, Madrid; Bonnier Konsthall, Stockholm; Fondation Ricard, Paris, etc.

The collection activities also include public projects like Phenomenon, a biennial residency and exhibition on Anafi, Greece, for which they received the Montblanc Patronage Award. They organize exhibitions, including Multitudinous Seas at the Fondation Hippocrène in Paris, One minute, One hour…One million years at the Island Club in Limassol, or as part of the FIAC VIP program.

The collection’s research activities focus on understanding the conditions that led to the normative role of today’s collector and advocate for collectors as ethical, creative, and socially engaged agents. Currently, P. Pepe teaches Ethics in the art sector at SciencesPo, and the collection plans starting a broader research and dialogue with other collections on a new ethics of collecting. The collection has been represented in the CNAP acquisition committee and the board of Council. It also maintains a publishing activity of artist and poetry books and catalogues.